Granular detergent dispenser



Jan. 24, 1967 R. L. PERL 3,300,096

GRANULAR DETERGENT DISPENSER Filed Sept. 10, 1965 INVENTOR F 5-- ?iRICHARD L. PERL BY dmyrzw a 0M ATTORNEYS United States Patent Ofiice3,300,096 Patented Jan. 24, 1967 3,300,096 GRANULAR DETERGENT DISPENSERRichard L. Perl, Mansfield, Ohio, assignor to The Tappan Company,Mansfield, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Sept. 10, 1965, Ser. No.486,424 4 Claims. (Cl. 222-166) This invention relates to a dispenserfor discharging a measured quantity of granular material, such as adetergent, within the interior of a dishwashing machine and the like.

It is a primary object of the invention to provide such a dispenser tobe actuated within the closed machine in such manner as to deliver acharge of the granules by a positive dumping action which greatlyminimizes and practically eliminates residual accumulations of thegranular material in the dispenser. The positive dumping action thusprovided is particularly distinguished from a supply of the granuleseither entirely or in significant part by a flushing action resultingfrom exposure of the charge to water spray in the machine, with thegranules necessarily wetted in this common type of discharge while atleast partially still in the dispenser and the tendency for particles toadhere on surfaces of the dispenser being high. This type of dispensingoperation is, moreover, commonly effected by means of a recess or pocketfor containing the charge in a vertical wall, such as the inner liner ofthe door of a front loading machine, and the flushing of the detergentfrom such a compartment can be quite inefiicient.

Another object is to provide a dispenser for granular detergent and thelike in which a separately formed container is employed and s mountedand actuated in the operation of the machine as to quickly and fullydump a charge of the detergent therein at the desired point in theoperation of the machine.

It is another object of the invention to provide such a dispenser whichcan very conveniently and easily be filled with the granular materialand conditioned to be automatically operated for discharge of thematerial at the proper time in the operating cycle of the dishwashingmachine and the like.

A more particular object is to provide such a dispenser for mountingagainst the inner surface of the door of a front loading dishwasher,with the door being conventionally hinged at the bottom for movementbetween a vertical closed and a substantially horizontal open position,whereby the dispenser is readily accessible for loading in the opencondition of the door.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a detergent dispenserfor a washing machine including a container adapted to be supportedinwardly of a wall of the washing chamber, with the container thus beingwithin the chamber itself and actuatable from a detergent charge holdingcondition to a dump condition to deliver the charge directly to thewashing chamber.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent as the following description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends the invention,then, comprises the features hereinafter fully described andparticularly pointed out in the claims, the following description andthe annexed drawing setting forth in detail a certain illustrativeembodiment of the invention, this being indicative, however, of but oneof the various ways in which the principle of the invention may beemployed.

In said annexed drawing:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation on a relatively reduced scale of adishwashing machine equipped with a granular detergent dispenser inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragment in elevation of the inner liner of the door of themachine at which the dispenser is mounted;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the door and dispenser,with the latter in its closed or detergent holding condition; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 3, but showing the dispenserin its actuated or detergent dumping condition.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, the dishwashing machinedesignated generally by reference numeral 10 is of known constructionand operating mode, apart from the granular detergent dispenser assemblyindicated at 11, and detailed illustration and description of themachine is not necessary for full and proper understanding of thepresent dispenser invention.

The dishwasher 10 is of front loading type and is, ac cordingly,provided with a door 12 at the front and at tached to the machinecabinet by bottom edge hinging 13 for movement between the verticalclosed position shown and a substantially horizontal open position. Ahandle 14 is located to extend across the top of the door, and there isa control assembly 15 mounted in the upper portion 0 fthe door below thehandle. As noted, the specific operating cycle of the machine is notimportant to this disclosure and any suitable programming for automaticoperation can be employed in which some form of timer or sequencecontroller, as shown at 16, determines the point in the cycle at whichthe detergent is to be discharged from the dispenser. The two such unitsare shown to be operatively related by means of a mechanical connectionin the form of a strip or link 17 serving as an actuator for thedispenser in a manner to be later described in detail.

The dispenser assembly 11 comprises a base 18 in the form of a platedisposed against the inner liner 19 of the dishwasher door 11, the linerbeing slightly recessed as shown at 20 at the location of the base. Thebottom of this recessed portion of the liner obscured by the base isprovided with a hole 21 in a local further depression 22, and a washer23 is located in the depression 22 beneath the base. The base isattached firmly to the liner by a plurality of screws 24, with thewasher 23 being made of an elastomeric material and having a thicknesssuch that the mounting of the base on the liner causes the former toengage and slightly compress the washer to seal the hole 21. A number ofsmall proturberances as shown at 25 can be provided on the underside ofthe base to engage the liner and stabilize the mounting. Two upstandingears 26 are formed respectively at the lower corners of the base 18,which is preferably made of plastic, and in the illustrated verticalorientation of the assembly these ears are curved upwardly and inwardlyto form semi-cylindrical surfaces. A holder or container 27 for thegranular detergent and the like is provided in the form of an elongatedbox, also preferably made of plastic, open at one of its long sides 28.This holder has trunnions 29 at corresponding bottom corners, and theholder is pivotally mounted on the dispenser base by support of thetrunnions 29 in the ears 26 so that the open side 28 is outermost whenthe holder is positioned against the dispenser base in a first operativeposition shown in FIG. 3. The mounting ears 26 can be somewhat flexibleand the spacing of their free ends from the base 18 slightly smallerthan the diameter of the trunnions 29, whereby the latter can be fairlyeasily forced into and out of the engagement with the ears for attachingand removing the holder.

The dispenser base 18 is further provided with two apertured ears 30respectively at its upper corners, and a cover designated generally byreference numeral 31 is pivotally connected to the base at theseapertured ears.

3 Such attachment is realized by providing the cover with legs orextensions 32 adjacent its respective sides which terminate in trunnions33 received in the base apertured ears 30. The cover, also preferablymade of plastic, comprises a generally rectangular main body portion 34and a contiguous inclined wall 35 projecting inwardly from the upperedge of such body portion. The legs 32 are tapered as shown upwardlyfrom the juncture thereof with the wall 35 to their trunnion ends, andthere is a small flange 36 at the edge of the wall 35 between the legs.A centered stop section 37 of greater thickness is formed in the flange36 for a purpose to be described, and the cover has an inturned flange38 about the periphery of the body portion 34 and the side edges of thewall 35. The cover body portion 34 is of slightly greater size than theopen side 28 of the container 27 to close the same in the condition ofthe dispenser illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3.

The dispenser base 18 carries two leaf springs 39 respectively engagedwith the inboard edges of the cover legs 32 and effective to hold thecover when unrestrained in the extended open condition illustrated inFIG. 4. The cover can be held releasably in the first-noted closedcondition by being pressed inwardly by hand against the springs 39 andinto holding engagement with a latch 40. The latch 46 extends through anopening 41 in the base 18, the washer 23 in sealed relation, and thehole 21 in the inner liner 19 to the interior of the door 12. Trunnions42 on the latch engage in slots in the wall of the base opening 41 tomount the latch for pivotal movement or rocking on an axis in the planeof the base. The opening 41 in the base is of relatively enlarged sizeto permit such movement of the latch, with the resilient nature of thewasher 23 also accommodating such movement of the latch portionsurrounded thereby. At its outer end, the latch is formed with adownwardly facing hook 43 and the length within the door comprises aflat relatively thin section 44 and a cylindrical end 45 which passesthrough an opening provided in the end of the actuator 17. A suitablesafety wire or key 46 is applied to the extreme end of the latch portionoutwardly of the actuator 17 in order to preclude accidental slipping ofthe latter from the latch.

In the dispenser condition illustrated in FIG. 3, it will be apparentthat the detergent container 27 is held in position only by therestraining engagement of the cover 31 against and about the open side28 of the container, with the cover held in this engaged closed positionand against the tension in the leaf springs 39 by the latch 41 hookingthe cover at the stop section 37 of the latter. The pivotal connectionor mounting of the container is in this condition below and displacedlaterally from the center of gravity of the container. The cover can bereleased by advancing the actuator 17 downward to rock the latch untilits hook portion 43 is withdrawn from the cover, whereupon the leafsprings quickly cause the cover to swing outward to the extendedposition shown in FIG. 4. As soon as the cover is withdrawn or clearsthe detergent container, the latter will immediately fall due to its ownweight to the illustrated fully inverted second operative position, withany granular detergent in the container thereby being dumped.

With the dispenser in the empty FIG. 4 condition, charging or rechargingwould be accomplished by moving the dishwasher door 10 to itssubstantially horizontal open condition. The user then flips or turnsthe container 27 up or against the base 18, so that the open side 28 isuppermost, the spring extension of the open cover 31 being suflicientfor such access to the container and the cover can be swung or foldedcompletely back against the door. The desired amount of the granulardetergent is placed in the container and the machine timer 16 set in itsstart position in order to locate the actuator 17 in the relativelyelevated condition represented in vertical orientation in FIG. 3. Thecover 31 is pressed downwardly against the container and latches in theclosed condition, the dishwasher door is then closed and the machineready for operation. With reference to FIG. 3, it will be noted that theclosure of the cover 31 produces camming of the latch 41 in a directionwhich would tend to cause it to rotate counter clockwise in this view,while the inner end 45 of the latch is arrested by the actuatorconnection. However, the intermediate latch section 44 of significantlyreduced thickness is designed to provide a degree of flexure toaccommodate this latching action.

The specific manner in which the actuator 17 is operated by the timer 16is not critical and could, for example, be a simple cam engagementeffective to extend the actuator downwardly at the preselected time orpoint in the operating cycle of the machine for the dumping of thedetergent. A spring may be included for upward biasing of the actuatorto make sure that it returns to the FIG. 3 condition when the timer isset in the star position, although the deformation of the resilientwasher 23 which occurs in the released latch condition of FIG. 4 couldbe enough for the upward return of the actuator when permitted by theresetting of the timer without the need for additional spring force.

It will be apparent that the new dispenser is of economicalconstruction, and the ease of its use will be obvious. The mounting onthe inner face of the door greatly facilitates not only the use of thedevice but the incorporation thereof in the washing machine and, at thesame time, provides the further advantage of quick and complete dumping.The self-dumping of the container does occur very rapidly and thischaracteristic, together with the full inversion of the unobstructedcontainer, practically eliminates the unwanted adherence of wettedgranules of the detergent to the surfaces of the container.

Other modes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed,change being made as regards the details described, provided thefeatures stated in any of the following claims or the equivalent of suchbe employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. A dispenser for granular detergent and the like, comprising a boxlikecontainer for granules having a discharge opening at one side and beingotherwise closed, support means for the container including a pivotmounting thereof which is below and displaced laterally from the centerof gravity of the container in a first operative position thereof, theopen side of the container being substantially vertical and outermostwith respect to such support mounting in said first operative position,cover means for closing the discharge opening and releasably holding thecontainer in said first position, and actuator means for withdrawing thecover means thereby to cause the container to pivot by its own weightfrom the first position to a relatively rotated second operativeposition, such rotation bringing the discharge opening from an upperside to the bottom for dumping of granules in the container.

2. A dispenser as set forth in claim 1, wherein said cover means isspring biased away from the container and held by latch means in thecontainer closing and holding condition thereof, said latch means beingoperated by said actuator means.

3. A dispenser for supplying granular detergent to a dishwashing machineand the like having a door which is movable between vertical closed andhorizontal open positions, said dispenser comprising a boxlike containerfor granules having an open side and being otherwise closed, pivot meansfor mounting said container on the inside of such door to move with andrelatively to the door, the container being pivotable to a fill positionwith the open side thereof at the top when the door is in open position,closure and restraining means for holding the container releasably insuch fill position and closing the open side thereof, the container asthus restrained and closed being movable with the door upon closing ofthe latter and assuming a ready position in which its normally open sideis also substantially vertical, said pivot means being below anddisplaced laterally from the center of gravity of the container in suchready position, and actuator means for withdrawing the closure andrestraining means thereby to cause the container to open and pivotdownwardly from the ready position to a relatively rotated dumpingposition for discharge of the granules therein.

4. A dispenser as set forth in claim 3, including spring means fornormally holding said closure and restraining means away from thecontainer, thereby to facilitate charging thereof with the granules inthe fill position, and latch means for releasably latching the closureand restraining means against the container to close and restrain thesame.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/1941 Palmer222-166 X 9/1956 Manley 222-166 X 12/1961 Kendt 222-166 6/1962 Braga etal. 222-166 X 11/1962 Cushing 222-166 10/1965 Krezewina 222-166 XFOREIGN PATENTS 9/1938 Great Britain.

ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner.

15 N. L. STACK, Assistant Examiner.

1. A DISPENSER FOR GRANULAR DETERGENT AND THE LIKE, COMPRISING A BOXLIKECONTAINER FOR GRANULES HAVING A DISCHARGE OPENING AT ONE SIDE AND BEINGOTHERWISE CLOSED, SUPPORT MEANS FOR THE CONTAINER INCLUDING A PIVOTMOUNTING THEREOF WHICH IS BELOW AND DISPLACED LATERALLY FROM THE CENTEROF GRAVITY OF THE CONTAINER IN A FIRST OPERATIVE POSITION THEREOF, THEOPEN SIDE OF THE CONTAINER BEING SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL AND OUTERMOSTWITH RESPECT TO SUCH SUPPORT MOUNTING IN SAID FIRST OPERATIVE POSITION,COVER MEANS FOR CLOSING THE DISCHARGE OPENING AND RELEASABLY HOLDING THECONTAINER IN SAID FIRST POSITION, AND ACTUATOR MEANS FOR WITHDRAWING THECOVER MEANS THEREBY TO CAUSE